Words by Smiley Team
Opening up a world of digital career opportunities to refugees, the education provider General Assembly (GA) has partnered with refugee charity Breaking Barriers. The collaboration will offer free training and career services to those who have fled disasters in their countries of origin.
Thanks to the for-profit education provider’s generosity, Breaking Barriers’ clients can access training in areas including Software Engineering, Data Analytics, Product Management and Digital Marketing.
“The reason we are so excited about this partnership is that we don’t have any other tech partners that offer training in areas such as software engineering and coding,” explained Emily Hancock, partnerships manager at Breaking Barriers.
“It’s a notoriously difficult sector for our clients to break into and GA has links to tech companies like Microsoft and Google that our clients now have the opportunity of securing employment at, as a result of our partnership.”
With conflict and climate catastrophes causing mass displacement worldwide, supporting refugees is increasingly necessary. The UK had over 133,000 refugees and over 60,000 pending asylum cases at the end of 2019, according to statistics by the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency). Many of these people will face challenges finding employment due to restrictive labour market conditions, poor digital access, and limited education opportunities.
Covid-19 has only exacerbated this situation, as suggested by recent research by Breaking Barriers. Their data revealed that 32 per cent of refugee respondents lost work due to the pandemic, while unemployment rates for the country in general were expected to increase from 4 per cent to 10 per cent.
The report also showed refugees seeking work in the UK require digital training more than ever, in the pandemic, making the General Assembly’s intervention particularly timely. According to the study, society’s increasing dependence on the internet throughout the health crisis has heightened the need for digital devices in order to access work, with many refugees mentioning it as a primary support need.
"We know that refugees are being disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but we also know that there's an effective way to address these challenges through collaborative and innovative partnerships like the one we've formed with General Assembly," said Matt Powell, CEO and Founder of Breaking Barriers.
"Through this joint effort, we will be able to provide our clients with alternative pathways to meaningful careers by connecting them with the training and resources they need to succeed in today's evolving job market. Working alongside GA, we can also offer more career advice, technical support, and access to an extended network of hiring partners."
Breaking Barriers supports people from 57 countries around the world, to access work as a valuable tool to integrate into society. They offer tailored, one-to-one assistance that ranges from job interview training to English language support.
In the last 12 months alone, the charity has supported nearly 600 individuals, and offered education to over 150 people of refugee backgrounds.
To help them continue this vital work, donate here.
